While MU Stage 2 is the healthcare industry’s topic du jour, did you know that the new rules affect everyone, not just those in Stage 2?

Believe it or not, the deadline to attest for MU – and avoid significant Medicare penalties – is right around the corner!

Starting in 2014, portals are a requirement – regardless of your stage. That means that even if your organization is only in Stage 1 in 2014, you will be required to provide all information necessary for a patient to be able to access his/her health information online. You will be required to do this for 50% of the patients you see.

The dark side of MU is that the penalties are costly! In 2015, eligible providers (EP) will be subject to payment reductions if they have not shown 2 years of MU. And those payment reductions increase each year an EP does not demonstrate MU, starting at 1% up to a maximum of 5%. So that means you must start this year!

Patients Want To Be Engaged

The good news is that your patients overwhelmingly want the type of services you can offer via FollowMyHealth. A recent Accenture survey of more than 1,100 U.S. patients stated:

90% prefer web-based access to health information and education

72%want to book, change or cancel physician appointments online

88%want to receive email remindersfor preventative or follow-up care

76%want the option of email consultationswith doctors

Meaningful Use Stage 2 Requirements

So what exactly are the new requirements and what do they mean to you? Check out the grid below for a quick and easy explanation.

(New) Core requirement: Provide patients the ability to view, download and transmit their health information.What it means: Physicians must provide online access to more than 50% of all unique patients. Physicians must see that more than 5% of patients view, download or transmit their protected health information (PHI) to a third party (within four days for EPs; 36 hours from hospital discharge).

(New) Core requirement: Use secure electronic messaging to communicate with patients on relevant health information.What it means: Ensure more than 5% of unique patients seen during the EHR reporting period send secure messages to their EP. (Not applicable to hospitals)

Core requirement: Provide clinical summaries for patients for each office visit.What it means: EPs must provide summaries to patients within one business day for more than 50% of office visits. (Not applicable to hospitals)

FollowMyHealth Addresses Meaningful Use Guidelines:The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) set aside approximately $19 billion to accelerate adoption of healthcare IT by certain healthcare providers. More specifically, ambulatory physicians can receive up to $44,000 per physician for adopting Electronic Health Records (EHRs). In order to qualify for these incentive funds, the adopted technology must meet certain capabilities requirements and physicians must actively use the technology. Collectively, these federal standards are called “Meaningful Use Guidelines.” Requirements for patients to have access to their information and healthcare providers are key among these criteria.

FollowMyHealth Meets the Patient Access Aspects of ARRA Requirements:

Our product’s robust features provide more than sufficient functionality to address the patient access aspects of the ARRA requirements. In order to qualify for ARRA incentive dollars, physician’s technology must:

This EHR Module is 2014 compliant and has been certified by the Drummond Group, Inc., an ONC-ATCB, in accordance with the applicable certification criteria for eligible provider adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This certification does not represent an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or guarantee the receipt of incentive payments.